"Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world."

- William Shakespeare

With their brand of music transcending genres and delighting and defiling fans in equal measure, the future holds some interesting pathways for Cradle Of Filth. Their resulting material is well on its way to infecting ever pore of your being and raging through your nervous system, unstoppable in every way. This is the nature of Cradle. A force that will never abate, never relent and will always keep hammering the shores of Metal with its very own contagion.

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On this note, I managed to catch up with Paul Allender through a scrying mirror and a very elaborate ritual (okay, so it was more of a PC with Gmail, but the other sounds better don't you think?). He was kind enough to provide me with a few answers to questions with topics such as sacrificing artists, face-melting tunes and Cradle's shock scouting party, 'Evermore Darkly', before its main invasion force hits!

So to business, I began by asking Paul how they all keep Cradle progressing onwards and upwards in the future with regards to their material.

"We write what we feel is right at the time. Personally, I love Metal and when I'm writing I write what I think and feel sounds good. Everything I do that is recorded for an album I'm totally into. I know when I hit something very cool - the hairs on my neck stand up and I get shivers down my spine!!"

For those of you people standing at the abyss and wondering if you should cast yourself into the pit and purchase the latest mini-album from Cradle ('Evermore Darkly'), here are Paul's reasons why you should:

"Well for a start, it's a full gig DVD plus we have demos on there from when we were writing 'DDVA'. Listeners of 'Evermore Darkly' will hear the progress from demo to album. There's also a new track on there that I rearranged and recorded some new versions of riffs from an old song we had kicking around."

And the inspiration behind this opus Paul?

"We wanted to release an extension of 'DDVA' so fans could see us live at Graspop festival and hear different versions of the songs on 'DDVA'."

So, referring back to the parchment of human skin on which their latest press release was written, I took the statement 'the Cradle invasion fleet is primed for future contagion' and asked if this mini-album was the shock strike team before the main force hits with a resounding crash!

"Yes, because the new material I'm writing with Martin for the new full album is going to melt your face so you gurgle on it and choke your miserable life away...in the nicest possible way of course!"

I'm not averse to a bit of face-melting now and again. I always take it in the nicest possible way! So, how would you rate 'Evermore Darkly''s draw to fans that are just in the initial stages of the Cradle contagion?

"Well, the only way you can cure yourself after being in the same area as 'Evermore Darkly' and 'DDVA' is to keep listening and listening to them until you give it a rating of an undead nature."

Undead it is! Never dying, standing the test of time to provide just as much of an impact now as when it was a fledgling. Now the ghoulish guitar god went on to reveal a little about how the material is progressing from 'ED'. Just a tad mind you!

"The new material has progressed great from 'ED'. I'm not going to tell anyone just yet how it sounds, just get it when it comes out and you will be so glad you did."

So, referring to 'Lilith Immaculate', in most Gothic literature they acknowledge Lilith as being Adam's first wife who refused to take a subservient role and play the part prescribed for her. Do you see Cradle as the 'Lilith' of the music world?

Paul: "Yes I do".

Concise and straight to the point, I likey very much! One final major question that's been on my lips for a long time. Given Cradle's penchant for delving into the dark and mysterious, which living artist would you sacrifice in order to bring a dead one back to life, and whom would you bring back?

"I would sacrifice Justin Bieber and everything that little fuckwit stands for, and bring back Cliff Burton to make Metallica a decent band again."

I think the majority of people reading this would wholeheartedly agree with that statement. I know I certainly do, and would love nothing better than to see a little 'Bieber' sacrifice! I may even pay for the VIP seats for that show!

As all horror tales must end so shall this one. The interview that is, not the ongoing Cradle Of Filth saga! That, my friends, will weather the test of time, ever evolving into their very own musical chimera! Never standing firm in one genre or another, they are always dark, always Metal and always pure, unadulterated Cradle!

Be on the lookout for the Cradle contagion heading this way very soon! It sounds like we are going to have an epidemic on our hands...

DID YOU KNOW...?

Which record would be playing in your own personal Hell?

"Any country music.... I don't usually hate anything but I HATE COUNTRY music, the whining voice and the music makes me want to smash my own face in!!!!"

CD or digital download?

"Digital download (paid for and not stolen)."

Intimate gigs or arenas?

"Intimate gigs."

Fast food or home cooked?

"Home cooked food (I cook everything myself)."

Beer, spirits or soft drinks?

"None, just water (minimum a gallon a day)."

New horror or old horror?

"Old horror."

Time travel to the past or future?

"Past."

Dog or cat?

"My pet werewolf."

'Evermore Darkly' was released on 24th October 2011 (http://metaltalk.net/columns/20102109.php review here) and it's a veritable grimoire of material designed to delight, defile and deface the very core of any fan!